Gearing up for "Aloha"

Yes, that's right - in exactly 5 weeks and 1 day, Steve and will be on a plane headed toward...Kauai! In the midst of this cold and miserable winter, nothing sounds better than jetting off to the land of leis, luaus, and hula.

And all of those things are great, but when I think of Hawaiian vacations what I'm really thinking of are all of the sitcoms I watched while growing up. Nothing beats kitschy family comedy transported to a tropical paradise...

The Saved by the Bell gang taught me that good friends travel together. Sure, they went to Palm Springs one time, and even spent the summer working at a beach club. But when everyone (including Mr. Belding!) went on a Hawaiian vacation, that really meant something.


I've had to knock creating a "Clipboard of Fun" off my travel "to do" list, as things didn't work out so great for Danny Tanner on Full House. Danny's rigorous sightseeing schedule left them stranded on a deserted island that turned out to be the actual island they wanted to be on, but they didn't find out until they had been "stranded" for the entire day. Talk about drama.



If there's one lesson I've learned from all of the Brady Bunch episodes I've watched, don't pick up any ancient tiki statues while in Hawaii. Symptoms from carrying around these statues include your big brother Greg getting hurt while surfing, a tarantula almost attacking your brother Peter, and you almost get hit by a wall hanging. Remedies include returning the statue to an ancient burial ground and ending your trip with a big Hawaiian party where people think you're special because you have a lot of kids. And a housekeeper.


And finally, the number one lesson I've learned from TV about Hawaiian vacations is that no trip is complete without having the perfect theme song. On Growing Pains when Mike fell in love with the Hawaiian tour guide, they played Christopher Cross's "Swept Away." Come on, sing it with me:

I was swept away
No one in the world but you and I
Gotta find a way to make you feel the way that I do
I was swept away
Without a warning
Like night when the morning begins the day
I was swept away

I know for a fact that this is the best Hawaiian vacation sitcom theme song because just today, as I was pulling together ideas for this post, this song came on my cubicle neighbor's radio (that she keeps on ALL DAY LONG). It's like I thought of the Seavers and BAM! I literally was swept away right from my desk.


You may be thinking this post is silly at best, but I seriously do think of each and every one of these episodes when I think about Hawaii. If I could get them on Hulu I would watch them all in preparation for our trip.

Since not everything in life can be learned from TV (sad but true), do you have any suggestions on where to eat and what to do in Kauai? It will be a quick trip because Steve is shooting a wedding there...we'll have 3 full days to ourselves. Any helpful hints would be welcomed and appreciated!